Ticket to Rod
Ticket to Rod 'is the 9th episode in season 5 of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Plot Bloo discovers that radio stations have contests where they give away prizes, and the one he has his sights on is tickets to Rod Tango's newest movie, ''Out of Ammo II: Miami Nights. At first, Bloo tries to trick Boomer, a friend in the shape of a boombox, into tuning to the radio station by staging a party, but Boomer readily agrees after Mac explains the situation and asks him to help. Bloo, Boomer and Mac play games while they are waiting to hear the chime that signals when it is time to call in, but eventually Mac has to leave. Bloo and Boomer stick it out, though the constant exposure to showtunes causes Bloo to begin singing them. Through the night, Bloo has been drinking juice and cola to stay awake so that he won't miss the chimes. He begins bouncing around the room, both from being driven crazy by the music and by his full bladder. In the morning, he can't wait any longer and gets Frankie to stand in for him. While he's in the bathroom, the "Take Two to Tango" contest chimes are heard. Quickly, she calls in, and with a little help from Mac, answers the trivia question correctly. Bloo returns and learns that Frankie won the contest. Immediately, there is a dispute over who should get the tickets: Bloo, who put in the effort, Frankie, who was eligible to participate and won the tickets, or Mac, who knew the answer. Each has their own reasons for wanting to go, and when Frankie offers to take Mac because it would be "a little date", he becomes all wibbly and has all the more reason to want to go. Bloo has a case of sour grapes, telling Eduardo that the reason why Frankie chose Mac is that he's human and she "hates imaginary friends". Eduardo is upset by this and Frankie says it isn't true, she just needs time to decide who to take with her. The next morning, Bloo tries bribing Frankie with breakfast in bed, but winds up eating most of the hastily-assembled junk food himself. When she wants him to stop, Bloo considers sabotaging the efforts of anyone else who might also sweet-talk her, but Frankie nixes that. As Mac arrives, Bloo has planted himself in the hallway, frustrated that he can't be good or bad, due to wanting the tickets. Mac brought a DVD of a Rod Tango movie called Suntan Man, knowing Frankie likes how awful Tango's movies are. They head off to watch it and are soon having a grand time. Bloo hears the laughter. He is distraught over how they are disrepecting Rod Tango's movies and acting ability, but determines that if he can make Frankie laugh more than Mac, she'll take him to the movie. He overdoes it and Frankie picks Mac. As Bloo lies in the hallway after his defeat, Madame Foster walks up to see what he is doing and tells Bloo how much she likes Rod Tango, calling Tango a "babeous maximum rex". Bloo finagles her into helping him by saying that he knows Rod personally, and the two devise a way to get the tickets. Just before Frankie and Mac leave for their date, Frankie learns that Madame Foster has gone missing, so she gives up her tickets. Bloo and Madame Foster celebrate, but Frankie and Mac discover their disception. However, Mr. Herriman confiscates the tickets and holds a call-in contest to decide who should have the tickets, adopting a radio announcer's voice that is a little more free-wheeling than his usual demeanor. Boomer wins the contest and Madame Foster gives him a ride to the movie. Bloo consoles himself by drinking many apple juice boxes. He gives Jackie Khones a summary of what's happened, so Jackie offers to call in a favor that Rod owes him. After a quick call, he and Bloo have two tickets to Rod's movie, so they head off to see it. Unfortunately, the tickets are to a previous movie called Last Summer's Wine, a drama instead of the action-packed Out of Ammo II that Bloo was expecting to see, so he sets out to crash that movie's premiere. Bloo succeeds in getting in, but Jackie phones Rod to alert him of the party crasher. Rod stops the movie, offended that someone would take advantage of repaying a personal favor. Bloo is also offended, not realizing that Rod is talking about him. Rod personally ejects Bloo from the theater, which Bloo interprets as he is now an official part of the Rod Tango lingo. Bloo goes a little crazy describing all the things he can now be a part of relating to Rod Tango's works and businesses. Rod sums it all up with one word: "Wacko". Credits Bloo shares his favorite Rod Tango movies with the "airdancer" atop the car wash. Memorable Quotes * "Make no mistake. She's got a ticket to Rod, and I '''do care." — Bloo * "Rod Tango is poop! — Bloo Trivia *Coco is absent in this episode. *Frankie is wearing the same black dress from "Frankie My Dear". She would wear her black dress one more time in "Fools and Regulations". *The events of "Foster's Goes to Europe" were mentioned in this episode. *Unlike "Foster's Goes to Europe", Madam Foster is seen getting scolded by Frankie for being sneaky, except she didn't steal an item this time (which was one concept that would not be given to the character again due to negative attention from fans with the ending of said episode). Also showing Madam Foster confessing to Frankie about being sneaky and "would do it again (for the love of Rod Tango)". *The episode's title is a parody of The Beatles song "Ticket to Ride". *Wallace from Wallace & Gromit makes a cameo appearance in this episode. Continuity * Bloo mentions the aborted trip to Europe. ("Foster's Goes to Europe") * Mac still has a crush on Frankie and is dating her. ("Frankie My Dear") * Pizza Party´s music: Talk to The Jeans, can be heard in this episode. ("Schlock Star") Allusions * The title is a reference to The Beatles song Ticket to Ride. Bloo parodies a line from the song when he says "Make no mistake. She's got a ticket to Rod, and I do care." * Several showtunes are heard while Bloo is listening to the radio station: ** Clang, Clang, Clang Went the Trolley (sung by Bloo) ** Singin' in the Rain ** Girls, Girls, Girls!, a Maurice Chevalier song from the 1934 film version of The Merry Widow ** "Captain Andy's Overture" from Showboat — the actual title may be Cap'n Andy's Ballyhoo * Rod Tango may be an allusion to Sylvester Stallone, an actor that has appeared in many action movies, including Tango & Cash where he played a detective named Ray Tango. * Bloo says "Two tickets to Tango-dise" after learning Frankie won the contest, a reference to the Eddie Money song, Two Tickets to Paradise. * Rod's line in Suntan Man of "I'm getting too gold for this" is an allusion to the famous Danny Glover line from the Lethal Weapon series of films. * One of the people walking on the red carpet at the Out of Ammo II premiere looks like Steven Spielberg. Errors * During the red carpet sequence, the same set of people can be seen in the background along the carpet several times. This may not actually be a goof, since many cartoons have background images that repeat continuously. Category:Episodes Category:Season 5 Episodes Category:Episodes that show Mac's crush on Frankie